I oppose this Continuing Resolution. It is staggering that yet again, we are punting one of our core obligations as a Congress: funding government programs. We should be negotiating spending levels for 2018—for both defense spending and non-defense spending. We should have spent the last few months fulfilling our responsibility as legislators by writing bipartisan bills to fund programs that help working families and middle class and the vulnerable, support evidence-based scientific research, and help working people get the skills they need to find good jobs with good wages.

Instead, Republicans have continued their irresponsible trend of continuing resolution after continuing resolution. The fail to govern. They create chaos. This bill fails to support Community Health Centers, which serve as the primary health care provider for over 27 million people, including disproportionately rural and low-income populations. In 2016, over 376,000 patients across Connecticut received care at a Connecticut Community Health Center. They cuts taxes for insurance companies while failing to fund Community Health Centers—it is shameful.

They won’t work with Democrats to set budget numbers and ensure parity for defense and non-defense spending. They put services and investments critical to families and our communities at risk, from apprenticeships to education for students with disabilities, child care, afterschool programs that help working families make ends meet, and financial aid for students attending college.

They include an extension for the Children’s Health Insurance Program—but they cut out the Medicare extenders and other healthcare programs. They should be ashamed of the months of fear and turmoil they have caused to children and families, who will be unable to get care from Community Health Centers. They had time to cram a tax scam through the Congress before the end of the year, yet for vulnerable children, we dragged our feet for months. Shameful

We have all heard the President try to cast blame for a shutdown on Democrats— let me just remind this body and the American people that nine months ago, the President said “our country needs a good shutdown in September to fix this mess.” Well the President may get what he wants and what he desires as a government shutdown. But it’s not because of the Democrats. It’s because of the intractability of the Republican majority in this House, and this Administration, to move forward on behalf of the American people. It’s not the Democrats—President Trump has called for a shutdown of this government.